The Hammers were convincingly swept aside by the hosts who climbed to seventh in the Premier League and could have recorded a greater margin of victory but for the heroics of visiting keeper Lukasz Fabianski.
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini claimed “it is impossible to play worse” following his side’s abject display at Wolves.
It represented West Ham’s third consecutive defeat and followed their embarrassing FA Cup exit at League One’s bottom club AFC Wimbledon on Saturday. “We were looking for a reaction after we lost against Wimbledon in the cup,” Pellegrini said.
“We couldn’t do it and we have to review all we are doing because something we are doing is bad. No shots on target and we conceded three goals, so it is impossible to play worse.”
In contrast, Wolves were imperious – carving out chance after chance before Romain Saiss finally opened the scoring midway through the second half with a powerful header past Fabianski from Joao Moutinho’s corner.
On-loan Benfica forward Raul Jimenez took centre stage late on, flicking in a second from another Moutinho corner before rounding off the scoring with a deft chip over Fabianski.
“Raul is doing a fantastic job which goes beyond the goals he scores,” said Wolves head coach Nuno Espirito Santo. “The way he plays, his combinations, the way he works, he doesn’t stop – he is always giving us our first reaction to losing the ball. He has to keep on going.”
The result allowed Wolves to complete their first ever league double over 11th-placed West Ham. Wolves dominate down the flanks. Wolves have shown themselves capable of brilliant and abject performances in equal measure at Molineux this season – starting this contest with as many home defeats as victories.
However, with Rui Patricio, Jimenez, Diogo Jota, Jonny Castro Otto and Moutinho restored to Nuno’s side after an FA Cup draw at League One Shrewsbury, this was an occasion where they were at their best.
Like in previous impressive displays, much of their threat was delivered via wide positions as wing-backs Matt Doherty and Otto both featured prominently. First, Spain international Otto stole in at the back post to direct Jimenez’s exemplary cross just wide of the bottom right corner.
And on the other side, Doherty made more sprints than any home player in the first period and was unfortunate his surging run was not rewarded with a penalty when Arthur Masuaku’s crude challenge upended him.
Wolves continued in the same vein after the break and while Fabianski superbly saved from Otto, it led to the corner from which Saiss finally broke the Hammers’ resistance.
Moutinho’s pinpoint delivery found the Moroccan unmarked and he made no mistake from six yards out. And that proved to be the precursor to the predatory Jimenez – a threat throughout and responsible for six of Wolves 20 efforts on goal – capitalising in the closing stages.
First he got across his marker to nick a shot across goal into the right corner and then he delivered the coup de grace after being released by Jota, calmly lifting the ball beyond Fabianski.
Bad night for Hammers compounded by injury to ineffective Arnautovic
Ahead of this fixture, all the focus from a claret and blue perspective was on the return of Marko Arnautovic, who was starting his first West Ham game since 12 January.
However, it proved a disappointing and painful evening for the Austrian who was a peripheral figure throughout.
The 29-year-old, who has committed to the Hammers after turning down a move to a Chinese club, managed just 30 touches before his evening was cut short by an innocuous challenge 15 minutes from time which resulted in him leaving Molineux on crutches.
Arnautovic’s departure had little influence on the game though, which by then seemed like a contest being played out between Fabianski and the Wolves players.
The Poland goalkeeper displayed his bravery when clattered by Doherty, and his agility to stop efforts from Jota, Saiss and Otto as the hosts threatened to run riot.
Man of the match – Raul Jimenez (Wolves)
‘I don’t understand what happened’ – what they said
Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo, speaking to BBC Sport: “I was very pleased in the way we did it. It was a deserved victory, but with tempo and balance and I’m very pleased with the boys who were brilliant today.
“We were very compact and didn’t concede almost any chances to West Ham so that was a good one. “Sometimes you play well and don’t achieve. [Matt] Doherty and Jonny did well and had chances. It requires a lot of effort and a lot of heart to keep going up and down.”
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini speaking to BBC Sport: “Maybe we are paying the cost of having so many injured players that we cannot alter our starting XI.
“In the first half it was very tight, but after that I don’t understand what happened. It is difficult to find a reason for why we played so badly.
“These things can happen, there can be a lot of reasons but when you lose I don’t like to find excuses – we must become a competitive team as we were three weeks ago.”
Influential Jota – the stats
- Wolves have completed a league double over West Ham for the very first time in their history – in the 30th different campaign in which the sides have faced.
- Raul Jimenez has been involved in 13 Premier League goals for Wolves this season (eight goals, five assists). The only player to have had more goal involvements in a PL season for Wolves is Steven Fletcher in 2011-12 (14)
- West Ham have now lost their last three Premier League away games without scoring a single goal – their longest losing run without scoring a goal since December 2006 (a run of seven).
- Wolves’ Diogo Jota has had a hand in seven goals in his last six Premier League appearances (5 goals, 2 assists), including a hat-trick against Leicester last time out. He hadn’t scored or assisted a single goal in any of his first 13 appearances this season.
- Joao Moutinho has assisted two goals in back-to-back Premier League games. He only managed two assists in his first 22 games this season.
- Wolves attempted nine shots on target in this game against West Ham, the most they have attempted in a single Premier League match this season.
What’s next?
Wolves travel to Everton on Saturday, 2 February (15:00 GMT) in the Premier League while West Ham host leaders Liverpool on Monday, 4 February (20:00 GMT)
Source: BBC News
